A good advice is required for every successful business. Effective leaders know how to keep their limits and the isolation associated with being at the top of the corporate ladder. Overconfidence has however deterred the will by the leaders to seek any advice from the outside. This has brought about bad decision making in the organization. While some leaders feel like superheroes and are bound to be sole decision makers in the organization, some are open minded and prefer seeking alternative ideas from the outside world to aid them in decision making.
External advice help leaders in broadening their perspective and maybe, see their shortcomings in their decision making processes. Deciding on seeking an external advice is one thing, but choosing the right support provider is the real deal. Which criteria should you use when choosing the right support provider for a good quality advice? A breakdown of some of the factors to be considered will help you in making the right choice.
Support provider’s understanding of your business
For you to ensure that you are getting a good quality advice; the support provider should be acquainted with your business. Apart from the general MBA know-how, the advisor should have an in-depth knowledge of the kind of business that you are operating and the kind of advice that will blend in with your business idea.
Making sure they bring an external idea
An external advisor should seek to see that the kind of advice that they are offering is new in the business and not a flexion of the already existing ideas. This will bring about a creative problem solving and new innovations.
Follow a Code of Ethics
A support advisor should be bound by set rules to stay within his jurisdiction and avoid stepping far into the organization’s decision-making process.
The approach used by the external advisor
Business support is brought about in diverse ways, but the main objective is to deliver an outcome.
Finding a support advisor does not necessarily mean that the advice they bring to the organization should be implemented. It’s the responsibility of the leader to decide on whether the advice is viable or not depending on the company’s roles and demands.
Leaders should be careful in dealing with a support provider to see some of these factors are not overlooked.
- Business support provider should stay within his visible boundaries. There is a possibility of the advisors replacing the leader and becoming the decision maker.
- A support provider will not be held accountable for any company’s failure that arises from his advice, but the leader will.
- Poor communication of the advice.
- Business support providers can offer misleading advice.
- Wrong approach to the problem at hand.
Every leader should realize that every great power comes with great responsibility and hence they are accountable for the implementation of the company’s decision-making and policies